pleas for mercy – Praying Pint

46.c. “Wilderness” – 10.i. “The LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you”

Num 6:25  the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

Psalms 21:6   For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.

Psalms 31:16    Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!

Psalms 67:1    May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us

Psalms 80:3   Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Psalms 119:135    Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.

Daniel 9:17    Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate.

Malachi 1:9    And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us.

Exodus 33:19    And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

John 1:17    For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Happy the people whose king makes God’s strength his confidence, and God’s salvation his joy; who is pleased with all the advancements of God kingdom, and trusts God to support him in all he does for the service of it. All our blessings are blessings of goodness, and are owing, not to any merit of ours, but only to God’s goodness. But when God’s blessings come sooner, and prove richer than we imagine; when they are given before we prayed for them, before we were ready for them, nay, when we feared the contrary; then it may be truly said that he prevented, or went before us. (Henry)

the blessings which are laid up in Christ for his people, and which he imparts unto, them, and they are blessed with in him; so that he is made a blessing, or rather blessings to them; such as redemption to free them from, bondage, righteousness to justify them, sanctification to make them holy, wisdom to direct and guide them, and strength to assist and support them; through whom they have the forgiveness of sins, by whom they have peace with God, and from whom they receive all their joy and comfort, and at last eternal life and happiness; and all these are for ever, they are irreversible blessings, are never repented of, nor taken away. (Gill)

The “face” of God is his personality as turned towards man, or else turned away from him. His face hidden or turned away is despair and death (Deuteronomy 31:17, 18; Job 13:24); his face turned against man is destruction and death (Leviticus 17:10; Psalm 34:16); his face turned upon man in love and mercy is life and salvation. (Unknown)

There are uncomfortable situations and heart-hurting things that we experience. Some are of our own accord and others are at the hands of others. We don’t know why sometimes we are protected from them and other times we must walk through them. God knows. He will lead us and guide us and give us strength to rest in Him for resolution.

5.e. “For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.”

Job 9:15  Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.

1 Kings 8:38-39   whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house,  then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind),

1 Corinthians 4:4    For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.

Jeremiah 31:9  With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel,

Daniel 9:3    Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Daniel 9:18   O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

Job examined his life. He has lost his family, his flocks, and his body is being attacked with boils and sores. In this calamity, he examines his life and proclaims “I am in the right”. He is not saying he has done nothing wrong but that he has not done something to deserve all of this happening in his life. He has lived knowing that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him and live humbly before Him. Humanly we can understand what he is saying because from the worldly view it does not seem fair or right. We see what has happened and think what has happened to Job does not seem to be in line with the way he lived. Justice does not seemed to have been awarded fairly.

Does God ever make a mistake? Is He ever unjust? Does He ever do wrong? Is there anything in all of creation that is not under His control?

In our trials and troubles, God may seem far away but He is ever-present. In our trials and troubles, God may seem not in control but He is all-powerful. In our trials and troubles, it may seem God is unaware but He is all-knowing. In trials and troubles, God does not change and has not changed and will not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Though we do not understand we can trust Him. We can seek His mercy and know that His perfect will is being done, His perfect plans are being carried out, and His purpose will be for the good of those called according to His purpose. In times of chaos, cling to Him. In times of trials and troubles, trust Him. In times of loneliness, know He loves you. In times of sickness, seek the Great Physician.

4.e. “Separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers”

Nehemiah 9:1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.

Leviticus 26:39-40    And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies’ lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.  “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me,

Psalms 106:6-7    Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.  Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

Daniel 9:3-10     Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.  I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,  we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.  We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.  To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you.  To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.  To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him  and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

1 John 1:7-9    But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When we come to God’s word with a desire to know Him and gain understanding and wisdom we will become aware of His Holiness and our sinfulness. We will see self-centered sin. We will see worldly sin. We will see how far we have departed from honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ. God’s word will become vital and active in our life. We will see the need for confession and change. We will no longer be blind to His handiwork or deaf to His leading. We will be changed and our lives will be changed because we will know the truth of our sinfulness and the steadfast grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ. It is in this truth that we confess and rely on forgiveness. It is in this truth we are being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. It is in this truth we can come before God in confession and thanksgiving.

Before the rooster crows

“Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”

“And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

“Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”

“bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God.”

John 18:15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

Matthew 26:69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.”

Luke 22:56 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.”

Joh 18:25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

Luke 22:60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

Psalms 126:5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalms 130:3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

Psalms 143:1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.

I wonder how many times a day I deny Christ. How many opportunities are theres to speak Christ into the lives of others that I pass on? How many times do I deny by closing my ears to hearing His whispers of guidance? How many times to I close my eyes to seeing His hand at work? How many times do I look at my accomplishments and deny they are all at the hand of God? How many times do I deny the conviction of the Holy Spirit? How many times do I only think of me first and deny Jesus Christ as Lord putting aside humble service, honor, following and obedience to Him? It is sad to think about the amount of time wasted on self, self concerns, self interests, and self wants at the cost of knowing and serving Jesus Christ. Purpose, this side of eternity, is for serving, honoring, living for, following, and obeying Jesus Christ. Oh that my heart and mind would be desiring and seeking God as David said “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”

I am sending the promise of my Father

“And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you”

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

John 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

Acts 2:33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

Ephesians 4:10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

Jude 1:17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

The promise of the Helper, Holy Spirit, and Spirit of Grace and Mercy has been given to all who believe. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to lead, guide, teach, convict, comfort, and encourage our heart, mind, and soul. The Holy Spirit’s influence in our life is not through some mystical void but rather through bringing God’s word alive and flooding our inner soul with understanding and knowledge of God. The Holy Spirit produces fruit in our lives. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us peace. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus“. Staying in His word gives fertile ground for it to be brought to life and being led into action by the Holy Spirit for the purposes of God. The promise of God for the Helper will equip us for all of God’s plans and purposes this side of eternity. It will also equip us for everything we experience this side of eternity. Stay in His presence, study His word, be open to hearing His whispers of leading, pray, and above all desire and commit to humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him.

Safe yourselves from this crooked generation

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”

Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

Psalms 22:16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;

John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

2 Corinthians 7:9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.

Old and New testament records, 100’s of years apart foretell of Christ and His death and resurrection. “They will mourn and weep bitterly” and “What shall we do?” describes the heart of those who understand the sacrifice and the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. Note also the scripture “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross” Can you imagine the love that it would take to willingly go to the cross and endure the pain and shame for those who reject you? God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whosoever believes in Him will be saved. We were bought with a great price so that we might live a life free from guilt and shame. We were given great promises of love, joy, peace, mercy, refuge, power, strength, hope, faith, courage, protection, and eternity with Him. Our lives should be lived in light of remembering the price that was paid and the promises given to all believers. Let your light shine through humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying God.

In that Day of Trouble/Trial

“And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

“During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.”

Psalms 18:6
In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

Psalms 50:15
and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Psalms 130:1-2
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

Mark 14:36
And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Psalms 27:4-5
One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.

2 Samuel 22:7
“In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears.

Exodus 2:23
During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.

Psalms 18:17
He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support.

Keeping our hope and trust in God seems to be hard at times, especially when it seems we have been calling out to Him with what seems like no reply. Think about the Israelites who suffered year after year as slaves and how long they called out to God for relief. We can be sure our timing is not always God’s. Does the length of time diminish God’s ability, love, or plan at all? No it does not. Each of us needs to be mindful of how easy it is to give up or lose trust in what God can do? In Ephesians it says “God can do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.” In Psalms 46:10 it says ““Be still, and know that I am God;” It is good for us, through trials and troubles, to trust God and be still know that He alone is our refuge and rock. He loves us and He will surely care for us. Remember what is says in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord,” One of the Hymns said it like this Trust and obey for there is not other way to be happy in Jesus, trust and obey. God is able – trust Him.